By: Khushi Rawat

Waking up somewhere far away from your family in an unknown land, lined next to each other are ten tents just like yours, the instructor calling you out in the freezing cold to have your soup and get acclimated with the weather to start the journey. Snow capped mountains, tall pine trees, maybe a stream by the side; but hampering your sanity and view are those other awfully colorful campsites accommodating hundreds of tourists, the so-called “influencers” with their selfie sticks, tonnes of luggage, a loud handy speaker, and an insensitive attitude to nature and its people!

Overcrowding of tourist trekkers at Kedarkantha peak

Source: http://www.bitesoftravelbug.com/

This is the scenario of traveling. The scenic beauty and accommodations might change but the chaos sustains. I don’t have any sort of objection to how, where, and with whom people wish to travel. But I do wonder how the place loses its originality when it becomes accessible to all. Crowds aren’t the issue, it’s the ‘tourist’ mindset. If these crowds that I’ve witnessed during my travels had been sensitized about the ecosystem and cooperated with the people helping them live in those unfamiliar terrains- my problems would’ve ended there and then. 

This is how travel travels these days. One day some ad, a reel or an enthu-cutlet in a friend or family circle instigates you to make a trip and you finalize a plan on your own or with some travel agency. And BAM! You’re at the destination. Yes, yes I know this is not how it is done, a lot of planning and permissions go in for this to happen. But these days the meaning of travel has changed a lot. 

I believe that in ancient times when the concept of travel must’ve originated it was for gaining knowledge, spreading ideologies or innovations, exploration, or finding new things. But now, a person travels supposedly to escape routine life, to celebrate, for workations or just to blog about it. Gone are the days when travelers used to interact with the locals to know their culture, food, live with them to experience a new lifestyle, or maybe solve their problems somehow. Even the Portuguese traveler – Vasco De Gama, came here and learnt new things and shared cultures. Earlier the fun part was the ‘travel’, the journey or the experiences, today travel is limited to the destination.

But today, people travel with comfort and luxury, majorly blogging or documenting their travel updates on Instagram or Facebook. 

Did you know that the first ever travel blog was written in 1994?

1st travel blog written from Cuba

Source: https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20191219-the-origin-of-the-worlds-first-travel-blog

It was an unconscious attempt at travel journaling while consciously documenting the travels for a book under contract. Jeff Greenwald, a journalist and the first travel blogger, recalls in an interview with Green Global Travel that, “It still mystifies me when I go to a place like Cusco in Peru, or Kathmandu, or Fez, and see people sitting in internet cafes checking their email and Facebook Pages. They’re engaging online when they could be engaging with the people, sights, and byways of the cities they’re visiting.”

However, blogging isn’t bad. Especially for solo travelers, for whom it’s like a companion in an unfamiliar world. And for the other few it is the main source of their income. But they aren’t the issue here. Because they could only write or document when they are factful and they themselves experience something new. Rightly said by the former Secretary of State for International Development of the United Kingdom, Rory Stewart- “In an age when journalism is becoming more and more etiolated, when articles are becoming shorter and shorter, usually lacking all historical context, travel writing is one of the few venues to write with some complexity about an alien culture.” Because with the help of travel blogging we as travelers can improve the tourism industry of those places. Rory meant that we as responsible, rational travelers must share our share of experience with the world for them to know the pool of culture, heritage, and knowledge a place can possess. 

“Let’s document that via a social network. Let’s be the eyes and the ears of the world, to keep things honest and make sure that the money travelers bring to countries is actually used to improve the lives of the people we’re visiting”, is what Jeff Greenwald urges us travelers to do. Rather than just thinking of what to wear at the particular location that would look good in the pictures.

Having fun luxurious trips with family and friends is not the problem. Just remember to visit that local food joint or not so popular ‘mela’ or interacting with the elders of that society when you are eating at that famous restaurant or visiting that overcrowded tourist destination or listening to your tour guide.  

And some last parting words, rather how not to annoy the fellow travelers:

1. Try to keep your music down or just enjoy the sound of nature.
2. Don’t fight or create a scene with or in front of the locals.
3. Don’t litter around.
4. Keep the toilet spaces clean after use
5. Live and Let Live!